494 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



flounders that appear as far north as Provincetown winter near by or whether they 

 migrate southward in autumn. 



Practically nothing is known of its breeding habits. Presumably its eggs are 

 buoyant like those of its close relative, the four-spotted flounder, and since the 

 ovaries of fish caught in summer are immature it is supposed to spawn in autiunn 

 or winter, perhaps moving out into deep water for the purpose. 



Commercial importance. — This is one of the best of flatfish on the table, and 

 south of Cape Cod (where it is common) it provides amusement to many anglers, 

 for not only is it a free biter on almost any bait but large ones often put up a strong 

 resistance when hooked. 



169. Four-spotted flounder (Paralichthys oUongus Mitchill) 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2632. 



Description. — This fish so closely resembles the summer flounder (p. 491) in 

 itsj'general makeup that we need mention only the points of difference. Most 



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Fig 250.— Four-spotted flounder {Pttralichthps oblongus) 



apparent of these are that it has fewer fin rays (only about 72 dorsal and 60 anal, 

 as against 85 to 92 dorsal and 65 to 71 anal in the summer flounder), and that its 

 mottled gray "back" is invariably marked with four large, oblong, and very con- 

 spicuous black eye spots edged with pale pinkish, two of them situated at each 

 margin of the body, as the illustration shows (fig. 250) . This is also a much smaller 

 fish than the summer flounder, adults averaging only about 12 inches long with 

 14 inches about the maximum. 



General range. — The limits of distribution of this fish are yet to be established, 

 but its range is apparently ver}^ narrow for it has never been recorded south of 

 New York on the one hand and only rarely north of Cape Cod on the other, though 

 it is common along the intervening stretch of coast. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This flounder has been reported from 

 Monomoy at the southern angle of Cape Cod, from North Truro, Provincetown 

 (where Storer saw a number of them in June, 1847), and from Gloucester Harbor, 



